Eyes on Me
by Platonic1
Summary: With Aerith's wedding just few days away Leon ponders his feelings for her. He could neither hold her nor could he let go of her. He wanted to run away from her, but ended up running towards her - Leon.x.Aerith.x.Cloud -


**Summary:** With Aerith's wedding just few days away Leon ponders his feelings for her. He could neither hold her nor could he let go of her. He wanted to run away from her, but ended up running towards her...

* * *

**!~ Eyes on Me ~!**

**...**

**..**

**.**

"_When did all this happen? When did all this change? And most importantly when did __**we**__ change?"_ he sat there quietly thinking.

Deep down inside he knew the answer to most of his questions, "_He was returning and she was leaving… it's as simple as that." _

The atmosphere was very lively, rich with music, and dimly lit with candles on every table. It was one of those events where people come together to eat, drink, dance, and socialize. Such atmosphere is often referred to party… And then you have Leon… The complete odd one out.

Even in a party he had found solitude. In spite of being with people, he was still alone.

He blew away the candle at his table. Candle –a source of light was voluntarily blown off by him. The lack of light further added to his isolation. With the only source of light gone he was now surrounded by the darkness. He was conveniently hidden from the normal eye.

"_We were all so happy together. But then… things changed… we changed…"_ he recollected solemnly as he knew that his relationship with the only girl he had known to love was about to end even before it had begin.

"_We were always together__,__ Aerith and __me__. We shared our laughter together, our fears together, out joys together, and even our pain together. But now she will be gone… leaving me __behind… alone…__ again…"_ Leon leaned forward on his table, head hung in depression.

He realized that his sand castle was about to be smashed and there wasn't anything he could do to prevent it. He was afraid that the flower of his love would withered away even before it got chance to flourish.

"_After going through so many hardships together… __S__he__'__s just going to walk away from my life? That's not fair… __N__ot fair at all__,__"_ he leaned back on his chair and pulled out a rectangular box from his pocket, placing it on the table.

"_Everything which I cherish, everyone whom I love, and everything I get attached __to__, in the end is always taken away from me."_

He looked at small box and felt as if it was staring back at him, taunting him. Leon absentmindedly started twirling it as he was once again immersed in his thoughts.

"_I guess I am destined to be alone__,__"_ he concluded grimly.

He clutched the box tight in his hand, and closed his eyes as he tried to come to terms with the harsh cold fact. He was slowly isolating himself from the world _and_ from himself. He felt that he was about to lose a part of him which he could never recover, no matter how hard he tried.

Few quiet minutes had passed by but Leon was still lost in his trance. But then… A piece of music brought him back to reality.

"_That… __T__hat tune. It's the same one Aerith __used to hum,__"_ he realized as that piece of music registered in his head.

He couldn't help but relive a particular moment in his life attached to that tune. It was a memory, an event of the past, which guided him away from his painful present.

_// Flashback //_

After their ritualistic dinner everyone had returned back to their rooms. She was alone in the kitchen, or so she thought. She was doing dishes while humming a tune softly, her voice barely carrying in the silence.

He was going out for a walk and wanted to tell Aerith so she wouldn't get worried sick. He approached kitchen and saw Aerith lost in her own world. He observed that she was almost done with dishes. Not wanting to disturb her, he stood there quietly, leaning against the wall in his usual manner. Unaware of Leon's presence, she started singing a song.

**Whenever sang my songs  
On the stage, on my own  
Whenever said my words  
Wishing they would be heard**

She continued singing while washing her hands. After drying her hands with a paper towel, she turned around and became completely frozen to the spot when she saw him. He had his eyes closed and a tiny smile played on his lips, a rear sight indeed. He had heard that song before from her and he liked it.

Needless to say that she was embarrassed and was beat red.

"That was nice. You should sing more often," he said sincerely which put her at ease.

"_A com—compliment?"_ she thought as soft smile graced her features.

"Maybe you should sing in public?" he teased.

"Pu—Public? No Way!" she exclaimed sternly with a wave of her hand.

The smile on his face quickly disappeared as he posed his question, "Not even for me?"

She did not response initially, but after contemplating for a while she answered with a bright smile, "Mayyyyyybe."

Leon did not know who Aerith's song was addressed to, but right now he was the only one listening to it and he was happy for that.

_// End of Flashback //_

**I saw you smiling at me  
Was it real or just my fantasy  
You'd always be there in the corner  
Of this tiny little bar**

She was the center of the attention. It was her departing party and _he_ was missing, she noted. Even when she was surrounded with all the people of the town, she only looked for him - she searched for him.

"_Where did he go? It's unlike him to leave me like this." _

"_He had always been there for me. Every time I needed him… Every time I wanted… He has been there for me… With me. Honestly, I won't be alive without him. I have lost count of how many times he has saved my life or of how many times he has rescued me from danger. The bottom line is Aerith exists because of Leon…"_

She had all these thoughts swirling in her head, while her eyes were whirling around the room looking for only him.

"_Knowing Leon he __should be__ hiding in some dark__,__ secluded corner."_

It didn't take long for her to find him. After all, she knew Leon's likes and dislikes to the pin point accuracy.

She waved at him to get his attention but Leon sat there motionless, without even blinking. He did not know that she had her eyes on him.

**Oh, did you ever know?  
That I had mine on you**

He sat there motionless like a statue. Leon was not a man of many words but his face revealed a lot to those who had learned the art of reading it, and Aerith practically holds a PhD in it.

The look on his face caused concern in Aerith.

"_He has that look on his face again. I've seen him being hurt, being down, and being in pain but this __– this __is different. It's as if he is completely… b__roken. I've never seen him so __vulnerable - __so weak. He has always been our strength. Whenever we were down he provided the hope. Whenever we gave up he provided the strength to carry on. Whenever we fel__t__ overwhelmed we always looked up to him. But to see him like this… it's… it's just…"_ Trailing off, she found no words formed in her mind at seeing Leon in such pitiful state.

"_Oh Leon… what pain are you hiding from me? You've been part of my every struggle; you've been part of my every pain__;__ you've been part of my every burden__, and __you've been part of my life which I cannot erase even if I wanted to. And now when you are hurt you won't even share your pain with me? But then again, you've always been like that__,__"_ she thought after a quick facial analysis.

"_Please let me be a part of your pain, your struggle, you life, and a part of you__,__"_ she pleaded internally.

**Darling, so there you are  
With that look on your face  
As if you're never hurt  
As if you're never down  
**

Making Leon talk was an arduous task under normal circumstances, but to make him talk in that type of situation would be next to impossible. But then again… Aerith had her ways to deal with Leon.

"Hey!" she said softly tapping on his shoulder.

The voice shook him up from his momentary stupor. It was a voice of a person he was thinking of. It was a voice of a person who was at the core of Leon's problem.

"Dance with me?" she said leaning across the table. Their noses were barely apart by an inch.

It took a few seconds for Leon's mind to register what was going on and then respond, "I can't dance."

"Sure you can!" She insisted reassuringly placing her hand on his.

"No." Was his simple one word, and not to mention curt, reply, pulling his hand out from under hers. An everlasting frown was plastered on his face.

"Not even for me?" she pleaded by grabbing both of his hands.

Those were the exact words which had started a spark between them. Those words were now coming back to haunt him.

**Shall I be the one for you  
Who pinches you softly but sure  
If frown is shown then  
I will know that you are no dreamer**

Some moments passed by as she waited for his response. She rolled her eyes and smiled, "You'll be fine. Come on!" she yanked him out of his chair without warning. "I can't be on the dance floor all by myself!" she complained, exasperated.

"Aerith I—" he resisted but Aerith tugged even harder in response; she was not going to take _no_ for an answer.

She dragged him all the way to the center of the dance floor. She faced him, and placed one of his arms about her waist.

"_I wouldn't be able to let you go, if you make me go through with this…" He finished the sentence, terrorized, in his head._

"_Please don't do this Aerith" he pleaded to her silently hoping that she would hear his thoughts._

_She leaned closer to him. Their faces barely inches apart._

**So let me come to you  
Close as I wanted to be  
Close enough for me  
To feel your heart beating fast**

"_Why are you doing this to me, Aerith? In matter of few days you would be married to someone else and I am trying my best to let go of you – and forget about my feelings for you… But you're making it hard – too hard," _he wished he could put his thoughts into words to let her know.

He opened his mouth in an attempt to do just that, but she beat him to it, "Shh… Just watch – play along…"

She moved closer to him, her body straight and proper filled with confidence and joy, while his was unsure; it was normally vise versa. Their eyes meet and their dance begin. He followed her lead, but was always half a step behind.

Never before was her presence so comforting and at the same time so discomforting before. Holding Aerith gave him joy which he always sought for, but it also brought terror of letting her go. Lost in his thought, he stepped on her feet.

Biting her lip, she tried not to laugh and say ouch at the same time, but he read her expression. He began to drop his hands.

"I told you I couldn't dance" he said dropping his eyes. Their fingers untangled and he started to move away from her.

She could only smile and take his arm gingerly. She looked into his eyes and said, "I know you can."

Setting up the waltz position once more, she nodded, "Just follow the steps… Make a box with your feet, flow with the music – 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3."

She felt as though she were back to square one with him. He was tedious with her, only trying to mask the shyness he felt. And she was teaching him things, not just about what normal people _did_ but about her as well. She thought perhaps he needed that at the moment.

He followed along for a few short moments, before repeating his earlier mistake. His face betrays its normal monotonous look, replacing it with embarrassment.

"I can't –"

"Don't" she stopped him by placing a hand on his mouth.

He gently took her hand in his and said, "I'll probably end up breaking your foot by the end of this…and if that happens… then you would have to limp all the way to your wedding altar. You wouldn't want that now would you?" he said trying to reason with her.

She looked at him, sincerity filling her voice and her features, "for you... I would."

"I would just end up hurting you Aerith" he confesses honestly, looking away from her.

"The only way you could hurt me is by leaving right now," she persisted. She knew in her heart that he would never hurt her – it was the one thing he would never do, no matter the circumstance.

**And stay there as I whisper  
How I loved your peaceful eyes on me  
did you ever know  
That I had mine on you**

Leon could not come up with a response to her statement right away, the only thought sifting through his mind being, _"Love hurts Aerith… Not loving you would hurt me… and loving you might hurt you… either way, I lose…" _But watching the sincerity and patience on her face morph to an almost plea for him to stay, he smiled a very rare and delicate smile.

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

He knew he couldn't keep his grasp on her. No matter how tightly he held on – he knew that it wouldn't happen, and that soon enough, she would slip through his fingers. But as he watched her smooth face, cheeks a rosy pink, and emerald eyes glimmering in the dim light, he was happy to with her at _this_ moment.

Feeling eyes on her, she looked up at him and smiled, receiving one back. She couldn't believe that he could affect her so much, simply with a smile.

It was unfortunate that Squall wasn't paying attention to his dancing. He leaned closer to Aerith, as she instinctively (during a dance) leaned back, as though she thought he was trying to dip her.

Leaning too far forward, both of them fell, Aerith backwards, Leon forward, barely catching himself before he fell flat on her.

"This really is not going to work," he mumbled, rolling to the side of her, and hoisted him and the girl up at the same time.

"Of course it would" she said patiently, "think of it as… A dance of enemies. Remember what you taught me? To dance with your enemy is to know their every movement before they make it… And ultimately keep in time with them…"

He raised an eyebrow, wondering how in the world she remembers that. It was such a long time ago.

"When you put it that way… it sounds much simpler," he whispered.

As they moved together, their moves finally synchronized. She was glad that her new approach had worked.

Aerith felt Leon relax as he pulled her closer. Resting her head against his chest, she listened to his heartbeat before deciding to speak once more.

"Will you tell me now," she thought this was the only chance she would get to ask, "what's bothering you?"

"_What do you want me to tell you, Aerith? That I am madly in love with you? That I need you? Or should I tell you that after going through hell together I am scared to lose you? I wish I could tell you how I feel, Aerith. I wish I could share my pain with you. But I know, that my truth, my feelings, my pain would just bring miseries to your life." _

After going through all that in his head all Leon could muster was a simple, "Nothing."

She closed her eyes, "I know you can fool the world, Leon, but you cannot fool me. You of all people should know that."

"_I cannot trust myself to speak. I have no words to express my loss, my grievance. Words may_ _convey_ _the pain felt, but they may not_ _express_ _the pain felt. In only a week after arriving in Hallow Bastion you'll be marrying Cloud. I don't know why, and I don't want to know… But you seem so happy, and if I were to tell you that I love you and I want you to stay here with me... then I afraid, I might end up ruining your happiness. I couldn't bear to see you sad… To see you happy, I am willing embrace the grief – I'll learn to live on with you in my memories"_

**Darling, so share with me  
Your love if you have enough  
Your tears if you're holding back  
Or pain if that's what it is**

"I'm just concerned… What's going to happen to this world when Sora seals the final door" he lied. Once again his words betrayed his thoughts.

"Leon, do you remember the time when I dragged you all the way out to the flower field to watch meteor shower? Those shooting stars… That lit up sky… I was so happy to see that enchanting and spectacular display in the sky and then you said to me... "_This passing moment may never come again so enjoy it while it last"_ she quoted him.

"Leon… all I am saying is that this passing moment may never come again… We don't know what future holds… but we do know that we are here, right now… in this moment… so let's cherish it… let's enjoy this moment... together"

"_I have a past to live off of and no future to go by… Aerith the only thing I _can_ do is to enjoy this moment… Present is all I have."_

Nodding in acknowledgement, he gripped her hand, as a new song picked up, determined to make these few moments count.

"_How can I let you know how much you mean to me Aerith? I may be a protector of this world. I may be a savior from the heartless. But beneath all these coverings I am just a human being who loves you and would like to be loved by you. But I guess some secrets may never been know."_

**How can I let you know  
I'm more than the dress and the voice  
Just reach me out then  
You will know that you're not dreaming**

As the brass and violins slowly picked up, the music wafting through the air, Aerith and Leon, ying and yang, black and white – all the opposites flowed together as one. Ying couldn't be without a little yang, and yang couldn't be without a little ying. Black couldn't contrast so much with white, if white wasn't there, vise versa, and they couldn't complement each other so well if one were missing.

Each knew the other's next movement, stepping backwards and forwards, tracing ghosts of steps, dancing upon the floor in a spinning motion – not too fast, but not too slow. Each lived in the moment, and their eyes never left each other. Emerald mixed with hazel in such a way to make it seem like a dream.

As the song slowed to an end, each pushed against each other, needing each other for support. After their perfect movements, swaying but never staggering, their faces were close, both feeling the sweet breath of the other. They froze in that moment with their bodies entangled and their hearts united.

**Darling, so there you are  
With that look on your face  
As if you're never hurt  
As if you're never down**

At that very moment the fireworks shot into the air, creating an explosion of colors that sprinkled down on them, as they watched it through the glass ceiling.

As the enchanting display colliding almost gracefully in the air took up more speed and elegance in the color mixture and patterns, Aerith broke eye contact to look towards the night sky, twinkling with colored stars.

For those few moments they had melted away from reality. The only thing that held Leon's attention, and the only thing that probably every would, was the girl in front of him. He watched her eyes glitter with the illumination of the night, and grasped the moment, almost touching the inside hope she felt the same about him.

They both could live in the moment eternally, but it was Leon who fell back to reality first. The closer he got to Aerith, the harder it would be to let her go.

With that ending thought, he gently pushed off of Aerith, not waiting to see the confused or shocked expression on her features. Robotically, he turned and walked away from Aerith, walking out of her view, and possibly out of her life forever.

**Shall I be the one for you  
Who pinches you softly but sure  
If frown is shown then  
I will know that you are no dreamer **

Aerith was completely flabbergasted as Leon's odd behavior. It was quite surprising that for someone who read Leon's facial expressions so well, she had failed miserably to read his feeling.

She could swear that she saw tears in his eyes. For once she did not know what to do. Or perhaps she knew what to do. May be she realized what was going on. But, maybe, she lacked courage to face it.

She slowly made her way to where Leon was seating. She sat in Leon's seat with eyes closed and head hung low. "Oh god, what have I done? I… I should have told him… that I…" she couldn't finish her sentence as a silent tear trickled down her cheek.

Strangely, when the tear fell it splashed onto something and its droplets scattered in all directions. The wet droplets on her hand demanded her attention.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw a small rectangular box on the table. She remembered that when she had approached Leon earlier in the night he was twirling it absentmindedly.

She opened it hesitantly through her blurry and watery eyes. The box revealed a simple metal ring. She pulled out the ring and read the words etched in it, "Forever together."

"Oh Leon…" was all she was able to utter before her emotions poured out of her eyes.

Time may heal all wounds… but it does leave scars… which can never be forgotten.

* * *

**. . . Eyes on me . . .**

**Whenever sang my songs  
On the stage, on my own  
Whenever said my words  
Wishing they would be heard**

**I saw you smiling at me  
Was it real or just my fantasy  
You'd always be there in the corner  
Of this tiny little bar**

**Oh, did you ever know?  
That I had mine on you**

**Darling, so there you are  
With that look on your face  
As if you're never hurt  
As if you're never down**

**Shall I be the one for you  
Who pinches you softly but sure  
If frown is shown then  
I will know that you are no dreamer**

**So let me come to you  
Close as I wanted to be  
Close enough for me  
To feel your heart beating fast**

**And stay there as I whisper  
How I loved your peaceful eyes on me  
did you ever know  
That I had mine on you**

**Darling, so share with me  
Your love if you have enough  
Your tears if you're holding back  
Or pain if that's what it is**

**How can I let you know  
I'm more than the dress and the voice  
Just reach me out then  
You will know that you're not dreaming**

**Darling, so there you are  
With that look on your face  
As if you're never hurt  
As if you're never down**

**Shall I be the one for you  
Who pinches you softly but sure  
If frown is shown then  
I will know that you are no dreamer **

* * *

**!~ Credits ~!**

**Song**: Eyes on me from Final Fantasy 8

**Inspired by**: My own story. After reading chapter 18 of Faking Reality I thought there was a lot of room for improvement.

**Editor**: zestychicken2 (Super special thanks to her for editing this story)

**Question**: Anyone up for a sequel?

**Special Thanks to**: To those who read and super special thanks to those who review :)


End file.
